COUNTY'S TOP HEALTH OFFICIAL TO RETIRE

Dr. M. Ward Hinds Has Supervised The Snohomish Health District Since 1986.

EVERETT - Dr. M. Ward Hinds, the county's top public health official
for nearly two decades, announced Tuesday that he will retire in January.

His tenure has spanned the height of the AIDS epidemic, threats from
bioterrorism following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and
preparing the county for a possible worldwide flu outbreak.

"There's no perfect time," Hinds said of the timing of his decision
to step down as the Snohomish Health District's chief administrator.
"There's always something going on - anthrax, smallpox, pandemic flu."

Hinds, 61, will step down on Jan. 16. He is paid $131,784 a year.

He will be leaving a department that has grown by about two thirds
since he first arrived in September 1986. It now has 250 employees
and a budget of about $18 million.

When he arrived, public health focused on issues such as working to
improve the safety of food preparation in restaurants to prevent food
poisoning and tracking arsenic in the drinking water.

"It was a much smaller and more limited operation," Hinds said.

Since then, public health agencies, both in Snohomish County and
nationally, have taken on much broader roles, from how to respond to
possible bioterrorism attacks to gearing up for a possible worldwide
flu pandemic.

County Councilman Gary Nelson, chairman of the health district board,
said that the public health agency will conduct a national search for
a replacement.

Nelson said he hoped to have finalists selected by November and a
replacement on board by January. That would allow some time for Hinds
to provide assistance for his replacement and give the new top
administrator "a running start in the position," Nelson said.

Nelson said the health district board may have to review the salary
level needed to attract a new top administrator. He said he could
remember at least four times Hinds accepted only cost-of-living
increases, turning down additional raises.

Hinds took on some tough issues during his tenure, including a long
fight to establish a needle exchange program in the county to help
prevent the spread of HIV and other diseases.

At the time, it was highly controversial. Some board members
strenuously objected to the suggestion, saying it sent the wrong
message, that using intravenous drugs was OK.

Nevertheless, a pilot needle exchange program was launched in
December 1993 as part of an overall drug and AIDS outreach program
that included drug counseling.

At the time, the program was one of only a handful of such programs
in the country. Now they are considered mainstream.